Another intense year of poker is almost behind us, and there are only a few major tournaments to play in 2025.
With only a few weeks left in the year, we took some time to contemplate what comes next for the hundreds of live tournament grinders around the world.
We compiled a list of the best poker tournaments that await us in 2026 across all major poker tours and destinations.
This list was prepared together with gamblizard.de and Heiko Wulf, who has extensive expertise not only in finding the best online gambling sites but also in identifying top poker destinations.
#1 – World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event
While hundreds of poker tournaments are played in casinos around the world every year, the World Series of Poker Main Event attracts more publicity than most of the other events combined.
The Main Event is not just another $10k buyin No Limit Hold’em tournament, but an event that gets the entire poker world together in one place. While the Main Event is on, the poker world grinds to a halt, with players looking to grind their way to the final table, and poker fans supporting their favorites across numerous days of action.
The 2026 WSOP Main Event will follow the tried-and-tested formula. It will be a $10k freezeout, one of the few such tournaments left in the world, and it will be played at Paris and Horseshoe in Las Vegas in July 2026.
It will be hard for the event to replicate the 2025 energy, which saw Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi go all the way, but one thing we know is that the Main Event always finds a way to surprise us and create new storylines we never could have dreamed up.
#2 – World Poker Tour (WPT) World Championship
The World Poker Tour World Championship is another event that’s become a staple of the tournament schedule in recent years, and one that we expect to be back on the docket in 2026.
The 2025 edition of the WPT World Championship has not played out yet at the time of writing this, but we fully expect the Championship to return to the Wynn in December next year.
WPT World Championship is a special event, which sees players from all parts of the world come down to Las Vegas in an attempt to have their name etched into the famous Mike Sexton Trophy, which displays the names of all the WPT Main Event winners.
Playing in the WPT World Championship is one of the best ways for poker players to end their year, as it’s the last major poker festival in the lead-up to Christmas and the New Year.
While the 2026 edition will likely not break the attendance records set over the last couple of years, it is expected to be one of the biggest and most glamorous poker events of the whole year.
#3 – European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona
The European Poker Tour has long been one of the most prominent poker tours in the world, and the Barcelona event is easily the most attractive destination on it.
Typically played in August, the 2026 EPT Barcelona has not been announced yet, but is almost guaranteed to happen, as it’s an iconic part of the yearly poker schedule that players are very used to.
EPT Barcelona always brings amazing vibes and allows tournament grinders from all parts of Europe and beyond to enjoy not just high-stakes poker action, but also the beautiful beaches and the hustle and bustle of the Catalonian capital.
As the summer of 2026 approaches, we can expect the event to be made public and the hype to build up, along with hundreds of online qualifiers that will be running at PokerStars, giving you a chance to play this prestigious event for a fraction of the direct €5,300 buyin.
#4 – WSOP Paradise
WSOP Paradise first launched in 2023 as WSOP’s response to the WPT World Championship, and ever since, the two events have been competing for the players’ attention.
Set to run in December 2026, WSOP Paradise is more of a high roller scene, with most of the events played during the festival carrying large buyins, and the Paradise Island itself being a high-end tourist destination.
The $25k WSOP Paradise Main Event will likely run once more and probably create one of the biggest tournament poker prize pools of 2026, with the winner awarded millions of dollars in prize money.
If you can only take one poker trip next year, and you can afford to play in at least some WSOP Paradise events, this is the one destination you don’t want to miss out on.
#5 – Triton Super High Roller Series Jeju
Poker tours like WSOP, WPT, and EPT have dominated the tournament poker world for years and have had very little competition before the emergence of the Triton Poker Series.
More recently, Triton Poker has had tremendous success, and its High Roller Series has brought together most of the world’s elite poker players to compete at the highest level.
Of all the Triton Poker destinations, Jeju has been the most frequent one, allowing players from all over Asia easy access, while American and European professionals are expected to make the trip and make no fuss about the distance.
The Triton Super High Roller Series in Jeju has become a staple of the tournament poker schedule, although the exact dates tend to move around. In 2025, two separate Series were hosted in Jeju, both with tremendous success.
If you enjoy watching high rollers battle it out, keep an eye out for the announcement of the 2026 Triton Super High Roller Series in Jeju, and make sure to tune into the streams regularly to learn from the very best.
#6 – Irish Open
One of the few 2026 poker tournaments that’s already fully scheduled is the iconic Irish Open, a tournament that draws special attention from players across Europe and the UK.
The 2026 Irish Open is set to play out from March 26 to April 6, 2026, in Dublin, and will once again be sponsored by a joint team of PokerStars and PaddyPower, two of the biggest brands in online gambling.
While it’s a standalone poker festival and not a part of any major poker tour, the Irish Open has historically been one of the most successful poker events on the schedule.
Irish Open brings a unique energy that only Irish people can dish out, allowing it to create some of the wildest and most entertaining storylines of any poker event out there.
Both live and online qualifiers for the 2026 Irish Open are already running, and you can find them at PokerStars, PaddyPower, and various live poker locations across the UK, Ireland, and Canada.
#7 – World Series of Poker (WSOP) Colossus
The WSOP Main Event is by far the most electrifying poker event of the year, but the steep buyin price of $10,000 makes it unaffordable to many poker players.
Another WSOP event that produces a similar energy and an even bigger field size with a much more affordable price tag is the WSOP Colossus.
This $400 WSOP tournament has become a sort of Main Event for many lower stakes poker players who travel out to Las Vegas specifically to play this event.
The Colossus is a unique opportunity to turn a $400 buyin into a million-dollar prize, while still playing poker on the biggest stage and competing for WSOP silverware as well.
On top of being a huge event, the Colossus is also one of the softest live tournaments you will find anywhere, with countless recreational players entering the field with a dream and very limited poker skills.
If you can’t quite afford to play in the WSOP Main Event, the Colossus might just be your next best bet, and almost any poker player in the world can afford the buyin.
#8 – World Series of Poker (WSOP) Poker Players Championship
The WSOP Poker Players Championship is one of the most prestigious high-stakes poker events of the year.
Featuring a $50,000 buyin and a mix of eight of the most popular variations of poker, the Poker Players Championship is a test of poker skill, endurance, and versatility.
To win the PPC, players must be ready to play long days, switch between different games from one orbit to the next, and consistently maintain their stack in one of the slowest tournament structures around.
The 2026 PPC will be another iconic tournament in poker history, as Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi once again returns to the felt to defend the trophy he captured in 2025 (for the fourth time).
#9 – European Poker Tour (EPT) Prague
The final entry on our list of the best poker tournaments in 2026 is EPT Prague, another event you can expect in December of next year.
EPT Prague is typically the last stop of the EPT season, and there’s a good reason to host it in December, as the city turns into a winter wonderland in the weeks leading up to Christmas.
A trip out to EPT Prague is more than just a poker trip, as it allows you to take part in countless seasonal events, many of which are hosted by PokerStars themselves.
If you want to end the year on the right note, but also play some high-stakes tournament poker along the way, EPT Prague is the poker festival you should visit.
